Method of controlling wrapping materials for an article

ABSTRACT

A method of controlling wrapping materials for an article including wrapping an article with plastic, paper and headers at a place of assembly for the article; removing the plastic, paper and headers from the article at a place of use of the article; recycling the plastic into recycled plastic at a place of recycling of plastic; reconditioning the headers into reconditioned headers at a place of reconditioning of headers; and recycling the paper into recycled paper at a place of recycling of paper.

RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application relates to and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/188,078, filed on Mar. 9, 2000.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates generally to a method of controlling wrapping materials for an article. More specifically, the invention is directed to a method of controlling wrapping materials for an article such as a roll of newsprint used in the newspaper industry.

[0003] Articles such as rolls of newsprint are wrapped with heavy wrapping paper such as Kraft paper, cardboard headers and plastic in order to protect the newsprint roll during shipping and handling. When the wrapped roll of newsprint is to be used at a newspaper company, the wrapping materials are removed and discarded. This results in the generation of a great deal of waste.

[0004] It has been found that there is a need for a method of controlling wrapping materials for an article in which the wrapping materials are recycled or reconditioned for reuse. The present invention satisfies this need.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The present invention is a method of controlling wrapping materials for an article. The method comprises:

[0006] wrapping an article with plastic, paper and headers at a place of assembly for the article;

[0007] removing the plastic, paper and headers from the article at a place of use of the article;

[0008] recycling the plastic into recycled plastic at a place of recycling for plastic;

[0009] reconditioning the headers into reconditioned headers at a place of reconditioning for headers; and

[0010] recycling the paper into recycled paper at a place of recycling for paper.

[0011] The primary object of the present invention is to provide a method of controlling wrapping materials for an article.

[0012] Other objects and advantages of the present invention shall become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the method steps of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] The preferred embodiments and best mode of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference being made to the drawings. Referring to FIG. 1, an article, such as a paper roll such as a newsprint roll, is wrapped with plastic, paper and headers at a place of assembly for the article 10. The place of assembly for the article 10 can be a paper mill such as a newsprint mill. The plastic can be plastic film and flexible edge protection bands. The paper can be relatively thick wrapping paper such as Kraft paper. The headers can be round cardboard used on the ends of the newsprint roll. It should be understood that the present method can be used with a variety of wrapped articles.

[0015] The wrapped newsprint roll is transported through channel 12 by conventional shipping means such as by truck or by rail, to a place of use of the article 14. The place of use of the article 14 can be a paper printing facility such as a newspaper company. However, it should be understood that the place of use of the article 14 is dependent on the type of article used in the method.

[0016] Still referring to FIG. 1, the wrapped newsprint roll is automatically or manually stripped to remove the plastic, paper and headers from the newsprint roll at the place of use of the article 14. The plastic is transported through channel 16 to a place of recycling of plastic 18. The plastic is recycled into recycled plastic by conventional plastic recycling means at the place of recycling of plastic 18. The recycled plastic is transported through channel 20 to the place of assembly for the article 10. The channel 20 can lead directly from the place of recycling of plastic 18 to the place of assembly for article 10 or there can be intermediate stops at, for example, one or more distributors of plastic materials.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 1, the headers are transported through channel 22 to a place of reconditioning of headers 24. The headers are reconditioned into reconditioned headers by conventional header conditioning means at the place of reconditioning of headers 24. The reconditioned headers are transported through channel 26 to the place of assembly for the article 10. The channel 26 can lead directly from the place of reconditioning of headers 24 to the place of assembly for the article 10. The channel 26 can also include intermediate stops at, for example, one or more distributors of reconditioned headers.

[0018] Referring to FIG. 1, the paper is transported through channel 28 to a place of recycling of paper 30. The paper is recycled into recycled paper by conventional paper recycling means at the place of recycling of paper 30. The recycled paper is transported through channel 32 to the place of assembly for the article 10. The channel 32 can lead directly from the place of recycling of paper 30 to the place of assembly for the article 10 or at other similar places. The channel 32 can also include intermediate stops at, for example, one or more distributors of recycled paper.

[0019] The recycled plastic, reconditioned headers and recycled paper can be reused to wrap new articles at the place of assembly for the article 10. As it will be appreciated, the present method lowers costs and reduces waste.

[0020] The above detailed description of the present invention is given for explanatory purposes. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the whole of the foregoing description is to be construed in an illustrative and not a limitative sense, the scope of the invention being defined solely by the appended claims. 

We claim:
 1. A method of controlling wrapping materials for an article, the method comprising: wrapping an article with plastic, paper and headers at a place of assembly for the article; removing the plastic, paper and headers from the article at a place of use of the article; recycling the plastic into recycled plastic at a place of recycling of plastic; reconditioning the headers into reconditioned headers at a place of reconditioning of headers; and recycling the paper into recycled paper at a place of recycling of paper.
 2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the article is a paper roll.
 3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the paper roll is a newsprint roll.
 4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said plastic is a plastic film.
 5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said plastic is a flexible plastic edge band.
 6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the paper is Kraft paper.
 7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the headers are cardboard.
 8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the place of assembly for the article is a paper mill.
 9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the paper mill is a newsprint mill.
 10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the place of use of the article is a paper printing facility.
 11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the paper printing facility is a newspaper company.
 12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprising: sending the recycled plastic from the place of recycling of plastic to the place of assembly for the article.
 13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprising: sending the reconditioned headers from the place of reconditioning of headers to the place of assembly for the article.
 14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprising: sending the recycled paper from the place of recycling of paper to the place of assembly for the article. 